Sec. 8. Grandfamilies and kinship families alliance grants

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A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

The purposes of this section are— to provide funds, through the Administration for Community Living, to strengthen and support grassroots efforts that address the unique needs of grandfamilies or kinship families, including those supporting children with disabilities or those navigating through mental health concerns or trauma; and to establish cross-sector partnerships, in order to establish interagency collaborations and foster the integration of new or existing activities, designed to increase the health, well-being, financial security, or legal standing of members of grandfamilies or kinship families.

In this section: The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Administration for Community Living. The term cross-sector , used with respect to an entity, means that members of the entity represent different service-related sectors, such as aging, child welfare, income support, food and nutrition, legal, health and mental health, education, housing, or disability services. The term cross-sector partnership means an alliance, or other partnership, that— is cross-sector in nature; and serves a local (which may be regional) area.

The term educational provider includes an institution of higher education, including such an institution that is a junior or community college (as defined in section 312(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1058(f) )), and a secondary school (as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 )). The term grandfamily or kinship family means a family in which a child resides with and is being raised by a grandparent, another extended family member, or an adult with whom the child has a close family-like relationship, such as a godparent or a close family friend.

The term Indian Tribe has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5304 ). The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 ). The term State means any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

The Administrator, acting directly, or by contract with another entity, shall carry out a grant program. In carrying out the program, the Administrator shall make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities. The Administrator shall make the grants for periods of 5 years and in amounts of not less than $200,000 per year. To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an entity shall— be a nonprofit organization, State or local agency (including an area agency on aging as defined in section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3002 )), an Indian Tribe, or an educational provider in 1 or more States; and have a proven record of supporting members of grandfamilies or kinship families and convening key stakeholders to address an issue related to grandfamilies or kinship families.

To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an entity shall submit an application with respect to a cross-sector partnership to the Administrator, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Administrator may require, including— information that demonstrates the entity's capacity for establishing and sustaining cross-system partnerships aimed at improving the health, well-being, financial security, or legal standing of grandfamily or kinship family members; information that demonstrates the entity sought and included, or an assurance that the entity will seek and include, input from key stakeholders, including members of grandfamilies or kinship families, when establishing the partnership and identifying relevant activities; a plan from the entity to incorporate in the activities carried out under the grant— at least 1 recommendation from the most recent report to Congress of the Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (provided that such report was released not more than 5 years before the date on which the entity submits its application for a grant under this section); or at least 1 recommendation from the Administration for Community Living; information that demonstrates that the cross-sector partnership involved has developed or adopted, or an assurance that the partnership will develop or adopt, well-defined activities that are evidence-informed or trauma specific or trauma informed, to enhance the health, well-being, financial security, or legal standing of grandfamilies or kinship families; memoranda from at least 3 organizations that are cross-sector stakeholders that indicate the organizations will participate in the cross-sector partnership; an assurance that at least 1 participating stakeholder organization, or the lead entity itself, will be an institution of higher education that provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a degree; and an assurance that the contributions of the participating stakeholder organizations will be reflected in the programmatic budget of the partnership; information that demonstrates how the eligible entity will work with the cross-sector partnership to align existing (as of the date of submission of the application) activities to support members of grandfamilies or kinship families; information that demonstrates how the eligible entity will identify, support, and provide stipends to volunteers to support the goals of the cross-sector partnership, which volunteers may include— volunteers or participants of AmeriCorps programs under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq. ) or the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 ( 42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq. ), the National Community Care Corps program supported by the Administration for Community Living, or any other federally-funded program supporting volunteers in community service; community members; or students at an institution of higher education who are seeking internships or direct volunteer experiences; information that identifies potential members of a cross-sector advisory council that— will be comprised of at least 7 members, and on which a majority of members are or have in the past been members of grandfamilies or kinship families; and will advise the partnership on activities to be carried out under the grant; and a plan developed by the eligible entity to work in partnership with technical resource centers supported by the Administration for Community Living, including the National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families established under section 2922 of the American Rescue Plan Act ( 42 U.S.C. 3020g ), on activities related to the objectives for the grant.

In determining which entities shall receive grants under this section, the Administrator shall give preference to entities that— provide geographic diversity, including entities that serve rural localities; support children who have been orphaned by the COVID–19 pandemic or opioid crisis; have capacity to provide culturally appropriate activities; demonstrate capacity to work with educational systems, including systems for early childhood education or elementary education; support children with disabilities living with a grandfamily or kinship family; or identify as a lived experience entity, which are organizations, groups, or collaborations whose primary mission is to put people with lived experience in grandfamilies or kinship families in a position to support other individuals going through similar experiences.

An entity that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds— to establish or sustain a cross-sector partnership to strengthen and support grassroots efforts that address the unique needs of grandfamilies or kinship families, including those supporting children with disabilities or those navigating through mental health concerns or trauma; to foster the integration of new or existing activities designed to increase the health, well-being, financial security, or legal standing of members of grandfamilies or kinship families; and to promote peer-to-peer support efforts, including such efforts through support groups, social activities, or educational training.

An entity that receives a grant under this section may use the grant funds— to support volunteer efforts related to objectives of the partnership, including conducting outreach to and providing stipends for members of grandfamilies or kinship families participating in advisory councils described in paragraph (3)(H), or providing peer-to-peer supports described in subparagraph (A)(iii), who are not otherwise being paid for such participation or supports; for staff positions for the partnership; to conduct a gap and asset analysis and to raise awareness of the needs of grandfamilies or kinship families within the local area served; to support technology and software needs related to the partnership; to reimburse project-related mileage for staff and volunteers; to attend grant recipient trainings or other meetings with technical resource centers supported by the Administration for Community Living; or to help grandfamilies or kinship families coordinate benefits or assistance under any Federal program or any State or local program financed in whole or in part with Federal funds.

Amounts made available under this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds expended to provide services for grandfamilies or kinship families. Each recipient of a grant under this section shall annually submit to the Administrator information consisting of— the number of individuals and organizations supported by the partnership funded by the grant, including the number of people who received direct services or training from the local activities carried out under this section and the estimated number of people who were impacted by the activities; demographic data, including the age, sex, ethnicity, disability status, and race of those supported by the partnership; the number of and demographic data for volunteers involved in supporting the objectives of the activities and the number of people who benefited from the contributions of volunteers; recommendations to align and coordinate activities across service-related sectors, such as aging, child welfare, income support, food and nutrition, legal, health and mental health, or education services, for members of grandfamilies or kinship families, and lessons learned and promising practices developed during the year; and ways in which the project supported by the grant has engaged individuals with experience related to being a member of a grandfamily or kinship family in the design, implementation, and feedback related to the project.

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act and every year thereafter, the Administrator shall— prepare, based on the information submitted under subparagraph (A), a report on the impact of the program carried out under this section; and submit the report to— the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Special Committee on Aging, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.

The Administrator shall reserve not more than 10 percent of the funds made available under this section for administrative purposes. The Administrator shall use funds reserved under subparagraph

(A)for evaluation in the aggregate of the local activities supported by the grants. The Administrator shall use the reserved funds for administrative purposes that may include— the establishment of an interagency task force to evaluate the recommendations provided by grant recipients under paragraph (7)(A)(iv), to foster Federal coordination related to activities for grandfamilies or kinship families; support for the Administration for Community Living’s Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Center for the Aging Network, established under section 201(g) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3011(g) ); evaluation described in subparagraph

(B)by an independent evaluator, separate from any of the grant recipients, hired by the Administrator; and hosting, not less than annually, learning collaboratives with the grant recipients. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $8,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.

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